Press Release Summary = A leading security expert has described the attempts by Western governments to win the battle for hearts and minds as part of the war on terror as "quite clearly a disaster", and warned that Jihadi terrorist groups still see the UK as a major target.
Press Release Body = A leading security expert has described the attempts by Western governments to win the battle for hearts and minds as part of the war on terror as "quite clearly a disaster", and warned that Jihadi terrorist groups still see the UK as a major target.
But BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner said there was also a real danger that the mainstream Muslim community were feeling increasingly isolated as the public and the media viewed the wider Islamic faith with suspicion.
Speaking at the Counter Terror World Conference at London Olympia this week, Mr Gardner said the fight against terrorism was taking place in four key areas - military, financial, intelligence, and hearts and minds.
"The battle for hearts and minds has quite clearly been a disaster," said Mr Gardner. "As regards the 'war on terror' I've never signed up to the idea that you can have a war on something that you can't touch, but it's clear that this struggle is only going to be won through ideas, it's a mental thing.
"We've got to get the support, sympathy and loyalty within communities here and elsewhere, and when it comes to the Muslim population that is quite clearly not happening." Mr Gardner told delegates that, before the attacks on the Twin Towers, the views of most Muslims were closer to those of Western governments than of Islamic extremists such as Osama Bin laden. "Prior to 9/11, Muslim communities generally viewed Bin laden as a bit of a weirdo," said Mr Gardner, "but there is a growing perception now that the war on terror has become a war on Islam."
He emphasised that those who supported or carried out terrorist acts in the name of Islam were "a tiny proportion of extremists", and that mainstream Muslims have been made to feel "more isolated than they ever were before".
But he also warned that anyone who felt that the threat to the UK from terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda had diminished was wrong. "If you have any doubt that Britain is a target, don't just take the Government's word for it," added Mr Gardner. "Have a look at some of the Jihadi websites, get someone to translate them for you, and read some of the vitriol that is being expressed on these sites. "If these people could kill you all on a tube train, they would happily do so." Mr Gardner was speaking at the opening sessions of the two-day conference, which attracted more than 300 delegates from around the globe, as well as speakers from across Europe and America.
Other keynote speakers included Sir Richard Mottram, the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary on Intelligence, Security and Resilience, and Lord Carlile, the Independent Reviewer of terrorism legislation appointed by the Home Secretary.
The conference ran alongside London's largest ever security exhibition, featuring more than 150 leading companies including SecurityOracle.com, the website for the security industry. Andrew Greenfield, SecurityOracle.com MD, said: "The standard of debate in the conference was matched by the innovation and technology on display in the exhibition, and we had a fantastic response over the two days from delegates and exhibition visitors alike."
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